, 1887-01-01

that Junk, and permit no boat to come
aboard under n circumstances.
| distributed my men over the vessel to
the BEST advantage md reserved 10 my
self the right to act as n free lance. That
is, ! went from one part of the vessel to
another, and kept one eye on the junk
and the other on the beach. All was very
quiet up to 1880 o'clock. when | made
two discoveries in quick succession. The
cook had prepared u large dish Of coffee
for our Use during the night. We had L
large urn on u tand in one corner of the
dining room, and Il lamp underneath
kept the coffee hot. Tho same thing is in
general use in American hotels and res
taurants. | Wa on the point of entering
the cabin to secure II drink Of the bcver-
ernge when, as l passed al open window,
| heard the cover of the urn rattle, and
then caught the footsteps of some one in
retreat. 1t could be non other than the
native cook, l argued, but | did not so to
his quarters to verify or disprove my sus-
p%icions. l entered the cabin. turned up
the light and carefully examined the urn.
The rascal had certainly CLOSED it.
There was IA grayish powder OIL the cover
and on tho edge of the urn, and in his
haste he had spilled some on the floor. \
look inside showed numerous bubbles on
the surface Of the liquid. but these broke
and disappeared while | was looking. The
rascal could nave but one object in his ne
lions. | arranged the can 50 that no one
could secure n drink and then started to
notify the captain. As | passed along
the deck | looked for the junk. and in an
instant saw that she had decreased the
distance between us. The tide was
setting in, and she was either dragging
her anchor on had purposely raised it and
allowed herself to drift. The captain was
TIP as soon as 1 touched his arm, and
when | reported my suspicious of tho
cook and the junk lac replied;
Call all the men at once. but make no
noise. That Junk has got fifty men i'll
her hold, and the natives on shore are in
with II plot to capture us. Take II pair of
handcuffs and have the cook secured in
his berth.
After | had called the men ! went to
make "A prisoner of the cook, but he was
nowhere to be found. His object in re-
manning aboard up TO that hour WAS To
drug our coffee and note what prepara-
tons we were making. When he got
ready to 60 he probably swain to the shore
with his news, but he could have reported
little more than the fact that he nae
dragged our coffee, which all who were
awake ut midnight would probably make
use of. When the men had received our
orders we paid our attention to the junk.
and one Of the guns was quietly rolled
across the deck and trained upon her.
When the night glass was directed to the
shore we could make out that many Of
the natives were moving about and evil
IDENTIFY getting ready for some expedition.
There wa no question now but h We
were to he attacked. We had Il good
pressure Of steam, plenty Of hot water.
and tho hose was attached and II man AS
signed to take charge of it.
1t was an hour and n half after mid
night before there was any decided move
ON the part of the enemy. The captain
of the Junk could not nave had u night
glass. and perhaps he reasoned that we
were rs badly off. He kept paying out
his cable foot by foot until he was so close
on to us that | could have tossed Il biscuit
aboard of him. Owing to the set of the
tide or to some cross current he dropped
down to us stern first. while We lay broad
side To the beach. The stern Of the junk
was pointed %nmidships of the steamer.
and our gun would rake his whole deck
ut every discharge. At l O'Clock two
men left her in "A small boat and went
ashore, and then forty or fifty armed meIf
came out of the hold and took their sta
ION on deck. \ few had muskets, but
most of them carried knives or Il sort of
hand grenade, which has been termed
stink pot These bombs are filled with
a villainous compound which is let loose
as fIgN ~ lurnlnn and fla ftntaa ura
more to he dreaded than IA bullet. Their
plan. rs we solved it, was for AN attack
ON both sides of us at once. \ fleet
would come out on us from the shore and
the Junk would drift down on us at the
same time. We had the cable ready to
slip, sent the engineer to his post and then
waited.
At about 1870, while the tide had yet
half an hour To run, we saw the shore
boats make ready. At least 200 natives
were ready to come of. They knew that
the cook had drugged or poisoned our
coffee, and therefore sent Il boat in at
rance of the fleet to see in what shape we
We're. The boat came up very softly and
rowed twice around us before the captain
hailed and let them know we Were wide
awake. Some sort of signal was given
from the boat, and the fight opened at
once. Just the moment We saw the peo-
pie on the Junk getting ready to drift her
down upon Us we gave them the grape
from the siN-pounder. They were not a
pistol shot away, with most of the men
crowded aft. and | verify believe thnt the
one discharge killed or wounded twenty
men. | was at that gun with two others,
and a man armed with u carbine was
near u,. lie fired six or seven shots
while we were reloading, and three or
-four muskct shots were fired at us. Our
second shot drove all who We're left alive
below matches. and, believing that the
carbinecr could keep them there. we ran
the gun To the %starboard side Ia beat oil
the boats.
1t was high time. While the iirst
discharge Of the gun had done for II
score of them they Were u reck-
less and desperate lot and would
not retreat. They We're provided with
bombs. spears. blow guns and muskets,
and the man who was to sprinkle them
with hot water had been shot LEAD al
their first fire. As Dol as we got ON
gun over. some one picked up the nozzle
of the hose pipe and turned it loose 81
every boat within reach. But for tn,
hot water the fellows might have carried
lis by boarding. for 200 to 10 is big odds.
Such screaming and shouting and shrek.
ing rs they indulged IN when the boiling
hot water spattered over their half-naked
bodies was pandemonium of itself. and nj
the time We kept playing on them with
the guns and the carbines. The fight
could not have lasted over seven or eight